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The After Hours (second series)
'' The After Hours'' is the first segment of the twenty-eighth episode of the second season (1986–87) of the revival of The Twilight Zone. This episode is a remake of The Twilight Zone classic episode, that originally starred Anne Francis. Opening Narration (only found on the original airing) "How fortunate for Marsha Cole to squeeze into the mall even though it's closing. Someone should remind her though: Doors that keep others out, can also seal you in...the Twilight Zone." Plot A sweet, naïve young woman frantically runs up to a mall's doors, hoping it will still be open. A worker takes pity on her and lets her in. As she comes inside, a man starts following her, but keeps his distance. She enters the only store open. She asks for help and a woman pops up at the counter. She tells the woman she is looking for a doll and the woman goes off looking for it. A little boy in a tuxedo with a toy spider pops up, scares the young woman and calls her Marsha. A lady in an evening gown comes up and apologizes for his rude behavior and dismisses it when Marsha asks how he knew her name. He, in turn, begs Marsha to take him with her when she goes. The woman pops back up with the doll and Marsha pays for it. She goes on to explain that the doll is for her landlord's kid because she felt so grateful after he let her rent her apartment, with no money, and found her a job, only being around for a month. Suddenly, the man following her appears outside. The woman starts asking for identification, aggressively. Marsha says her name and that she works for a local company. The woman says that all just happened in the last month, and asks where she was before then. Marsha runs away through the empty hallways and the woman slowly follows, calling her name. Marsha gets on the elevator and discovers the man following her. He raises his hands to reveal mannequin hands, not human. Marsha then runs out of the elevator into a department store to the sounds of people calling her name, telling her to stop running. She sees a man and tries to get him to help but finds that he is only a mannequin. Marsha runs through the partially-lit department store and tries to escape her persuers, who start to attack her and increase their aggression. Marsha runs up an escalator and gets into a darkened storage room where she comes across numerous other mannequin parts who also call after her. Marsha escapes through a darkened stairwell and runs out a door on the lower level but finds herself back in the department store. The mannequins find her and give chase, forcing Marsha to use a chair to break a window and escape into the mall. The mannequins find her and tell her she's a mannequin just like them. She runs away, but then her leg turns into a mannequin leg...then her arm. She still tries to run, but her other leg and arm turn mannequin. The others tell her she had her month to be a human, now it's someone else's turn. The next day, Marsha, as the mannequin, is in the display, while the mannequin she ran past the night before, is moving and on her way to enjoy her turn... Ending Narration "Imagine standing forever still, unable to act, to speak, to touch a reassuring hand. If you were released from such a fate, even for a while, wouldn't you hope to forget that in reality, you're only on a short leave of absence...from the Twilight Zone?" Reaction and Differences from the Original *This episode was praised for its tone and is thought of by many as superior to the original episode, espescially in the way it told the story. *It differs from the original in that the characters Marsha meets are more menacing, and the tone of the episode is much heavier on suspense. *The episode also differs in that rather than remembering what she is and accept her fate as Marsha did in the original, the other mannequins force Marsha back into her true form so that another mannequin can take her place. *The original episode also took place in a department store after it closed. This one takes place in a shopping mall in the middle of the night. *In the original episode, Marsha came in and accidentally was locked in after falling asleep. Here, Marsha showed up just before it closed and was held in the mall while it was locked up. *The episode also features a parody of the Cabbage Patch Kids dolls. *Overall the tone of this episode is more harsh and frightening than its predecessor. There is a particularly disturbing shot where Marsha runs into a darkened stairwell and comes across an entire bin full of mannequin heads, some of which come alive and start talking to her. *This episode features Marsha's limbs slowly turning to mannequin limbs. *This episode features a scene where Marsha runs into an elevator and into another mannequin, who holds up his hands to reveal that his fingers are molded together. *The mannequins of the original episode seem to be more disappointed in Marsha for forgetting, but the mannequins of this episode seem very angry and vengeful for Marsha's selfish denial. Category:1985-1986 Season Category:1985-1986 Category:Second Series Episodes